Anna of Wallachia or Anna Basarab ( bg, Анна Басараб) was a Wallachian princess and

Empress consort of Bulgaria First Bulgarian Empire Second Bulgarian Empire Third Bulgarian State Gallery File:Irene-Komnene-Kastoria.jpg, Anna of Halych File:NHM-BG-photo1-2.jpg, Irene Doukaina Laskarina File:G bogdanov marija.jpg, Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene File: ...

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

, second wife of Emperor

Ivan Sratsimir Ivan Sratsimir (), or Ivan Stratsimir ( bg, Иван Страцимир), was emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Vidin from 1356 to 1396. He was born in 1324 or 1325, and he died in or after 1397. Despite being the eldest surviving son of Ivan Alexand ...

She was the daughter of

Nicholas Alexander of Wallachia Nicholas Alexander ( ro, Nicolae Alexandru), (died November 1364) was a Voivode of Wallachia (c. 1352 – November 1364), after having been co-ruler to his father Basarab I. Reign In the year 1359, he founded the Eastern Orthodox Metropoli ...

and his

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

second wife, the Hungarian

Clara Dobokai Clara Dobokai (before 1330 – after 1370) was the second wife of Nicholas Alexander, Voivode of Wallachia. Origins Clara was the daughter of a Hungarian nobleman, John Dobokai, whose domains were located in Transylvania. Her mother's name an ...

. Her younger sister, Anka, married the Serbian king Stephen Uroš V. Her father's sister was

Theodora Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift". Theodora may also refer to: Historical figures known as Theodora Byzantine empresses * Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church * Theodora o ...

, the first wife of Emperor Ivan Alexander (r. 1331–1371) and mother of Ivan Sratsimir. She married Ivan Sratsimir in 1356–1357. The marriage was a reaction to Ivan Alexander's divorce from Theodora and was aimed at weakening the position of the new empress, Sarah-Theodora. It is not known whether Theodora had any role in the arrangement of the wedding between her son and her niece or whether it was done on her initiative. Between 1365 and 1369, Vidin was occupied by the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. The ruling family was held captive in the castle of Humnik (in

Bosiljevo Bosiljevo is a village and municipality in Karlovac County, Croatia. It is located in the Gorski Kotar region, 25 km south-west from Karlovac, on the highways A1 and A6 leading to Zagreb, Rijeka and Split. Settlements The total popula ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

), where they were forced to convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. They were later released but Anna's daughters remained in Hungary. One of them died at a young age but Dorothea married the Ban (and later King) of Bosnia

Tvrtko I Stephen Tvrtko I ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Stjepan/Stefan Tvrtko, Стјепан/Стефан Твртко; 1338 – 10 March 1391) was the first king of Bosnia. A member of the House of Kotromanić, he succeeded his uncle Stephen II ...

. Anna is also known to have ordered the Vidin Psalter of 1359–1360. The empress was raised a Catholic. It is unknown whether she became

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

in Bulgaria but the book she ordered contains only

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

of Orthodox saints, which is a hint that she most likely converted to Orthodoxy.

Family

The marriage produced three children – a son and two daughters: * Constantine II, who claimed his father's title ''Emperor of Bulgaria'' after the fall of Vidin *

Dorothea of Bulgaria Dorothea of Bulgaria ( bg, Доротея, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Doroteja, Доротеја; died 1390), also called Doroslava (), was the first Queen of Bosnia. Daughter of the Bulgarian tsar Ivan Sratsimir, Dorothea was held hostage by King Louis I ...

, who became Queen consort of Bosnia * An unknown daughter

Sources

* Божилов, Иван. ''Фамилията на Асеневџи (1186–1460)'', София, 1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Anna Of Wallachia Bulgarian consorts Women of medieval Wallachia 14th-century births 14th-century deaths 14th-century Bulgarian people House of Basarab Sratsimir dynasty 14th-century Roman Catholics Bulgarian Roman Catholics People from Vidin Tsardom of Vidin People of medieval Wallachia 14th-century Bulgarian women 14th-century Hungarian women